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A terrible third period in Columbus has put the Tampa Bay Lightning in a sour mood to start their four-game road trip.
After surrendering a trio of third-period goals against the Blue Jackets in Thursday’s 4-2 loss, the Lightning visit Canada’s capital to face the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.
Coach Jon Cooper and the Lightning intend to leave the baggage from Thursday’s disaster at customs.
Nursing a 2-1 lead in the third period, Cooper’s club slowly fell apart. Boone Jenner’s deflection led to a goal at 6:41, defenseman Erik Gudbranson scored under three minutes later and Johnny Gaudreau found the empty net to drop Tampa Bay to 0-3-1 on the road.
“We’re just finding ways to lose games,” Cooper said. “That was a nothing game. That should’ve been easy and over. … The fact that we’re just giving those chances was not what we’d done for the first two periods. We just didn’t have any push.
“We really haven’t taken penalties all year, and we found a way to take three in the third. So, if you want to give yourself a chance to lose, those are some of the things we’re doing. It’s why we’re losing games.”
The failure to close out a victory prevented a storybook ending.
Cooper started backup goaltender Matt Tomkins, a four-year player at Ohio State who was returning home with a chance for his first NHL win.
“We played 55 minutes of hockey and five minutes of not so good, and it’s burning us,” Cooper said. “You’ve got to play the complete game, and we’re not doing that.”
The Senators already have defeated their Atlantic Division foe. They posted a 5-2 victory over the Lightning on Oct. 15 in the third game for both teams.
However, times have not been good of late for the Senators, who are under new ownership and have recently made headlines for the wrong reasons after winning three of their first four contests.
Now, Ottawa grids next-to-last in the Eastern Conference — two points ahead of the last-place Pittsburgh Penguins — and restricted free agent Shane Pinto received a 41-game suspension for gambling violations.
To top it off, the organization learned Wednesday it would have to forfeit a first-round pick in one of the next three drafts because it failed to inform the Vegas Golden Knights about Evgenii Dadonov’s no-trade list.
That prompted the franchise to relieve general manager Pierre Dorion of his duties.
On Thursday, Ottawa surrendered the game’s first three goals and dropped a 3-2 decision to the Los Angeles Kings.
Forwards Mark Kastelic and Ridly Greig left with lower-body injuries, plus the Senators already are down three defensemen.
“The injuries to Ridly and Kasty back to back, we had some tired guys,” Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. “We had a couple of guys go on long shifts and have to go back on the power play. We stayed with it enough to have a chance at the end.”
–Field Level Media